Juvenile justice bills to limit kids in adult prisons

The Michigan Legislature is considering a bill that would mandate parole for prisoners who have served their minimum sentences unless their release can be shown to pose a threat to public safety.(Photo: allanswart/Thinkstock)

LANSING — A broad, bipartisan coalition of legislators came together on Tuesday to offer a package of bills that would treat juvenile offenders more like juveniles rather than adults.

The bills, which received a first hearing in the House Criminal Justice committee Tuesday, would raise the age to be eligible for juvenile status from 17 to 18 and make it more difficult to automatically waive juveniles into adult court, except in the most serious violent crimes like murder and rape.

Currently, there are 83 people under the age of 18 who are serving prison sentences in Michigan Department of Correction facilities, said department spokesman Chris Gautz.

“We live in a country that unfortunately sees young people in a prison setting, and nothing is more heartbreaking than seeing 14- or 15-year-olds in prison with adults,” said state Rep. Harvey Santana, D-Detroit. “Most of those individuals are there because there are adults who failed them in life.”

State Rep. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township, has worked in criminal defense for 30 years and said the way the juvenile justice system works now is putting youthful offenders at risk for physical and psychological harm.

“The prosecution always has the right to waive up any individual into adult court, but to categorically lump everyone in the same pool is putting guppies with sharks,” he said.

The bills would:

Raise the age for juvenile status from up to 17 years old to up to 18 years old.

Limit automatic waivers to adult court for people under the age of 18 to the crimes of murder, rape, armed robbery, carjacking and kidnapping.

Require hearings in family court for waivers on other crimes.

Prohibit juvenile offenders from being housed with adult offenders.

Raise the state reimbursement in the child care fund for counties’ costs for administering juvenile justice from 50% to 75%.

Legislators heard from a number of people supportive of the bills, including Toni Bunton of Detroit, who, at the age of 17, was caught up as the getaway driver in a marijuana delivery scheme that ended with robbery and felony murder charges.

She was convicted and sentenced to 25-50 years in prison. She spent 16 years in prison where she was repeatedly raped and abused before former Gov. Jennifer Granholm commuted her sentence.

“What I did, my crime, I hurt families, I hurt victims. I deserved to be punished, but I did not deserve to be put in adult facilities. I was abused for years,” she said.

Former Supreme Court Justice Mary Beth Kelly testified in support of the bill, saying that because juvenile justice is administered on a county level, that there is a great disparity in justice.

“Not all counties have the kind of resources, so there is a tremendous disparity of child care fund expenditures,” she said. “Some of the counties just let the kids be sent to the Corrections Department because they can’t pay the 50%.”

But Lt. Tom Cremonte, the jail administrator for Livingston County, said the bills will not make communities safer.

“I don’t buy anything of what I heard today. You will not make the residents of the state of Michigan safer,” he said. “And most of the heinous crimes I’ve seen committed have been done by youthful offenders.”

Livingston County Commissioner David Domas added that the county can’t justify the additional expenses associated with the bills.

“We don’t do things with our taxpayer money that we can’t afford to do,” he said.

Another hearing will be held on the bills next week, but they aren’t expected to get a vote in the full House until next year.

“I don’t want quick movement, I want a methodical and well-paced debate,” Santana said. “When it gets to the Senate, I want them to see a package that is well thought out and comprehensive. And we still need to have the funding discussion that is a critical part of this.”

The Senate, along with Attorney General Bill Schuette, have worked to stall other criminal justice reforms that have passed the House, including a bill that would require the Michigan Parole Board to grant parole to inmates who have been determined to be a low risk for re-offending once they have served their minimum sentences.